Update on Wild Horses Legislation

In late January 2005, Representative Nick J. Rahall II (R-MT) introduced H.R. 297 to restore the prohibition on the commercial sale and slaughter of wild horses and burros. The bill was referred to the House Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health. Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) introduced companion legislation (S. 576), which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

In June, Representatives Jon Porter (R-NV), Shelley Berkley (D-NV) and James Gibbons (R-NV) introduced the “Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Sale and Adoption Act of 2005” (H.R. 2993), which would provide for the sale and adoption of excess horses and burros. The bill was referred to the House Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health. Senators Harry Reid (D-NV) and John Ensign (R-NV) introduced companion legislation (S. 1273), which was also referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. There has been no action on any of these “stand-alone” bills.

In mid-May, the House passed an amendment to the Interior Department’s Fiscal Year 2006 Appropriations Bill prohibiting the use of any funds for personnel involved in the sale of wild free-roaming horses and burros. There was no similar provision in the Senate-passed Interior Appropriations bill. During a conference between the House and Senate to reconcile the difference in the two versions of the Interior Appropriations bill, the provision was deleted.